Beasts of a Little Land

A young Japanese commander is saved from an approaching tiger by a starving local hunter in 1917, deep in the cold mountains of occupied Korea. Their futures are linked in an instant, and a half-century-long story begins with this meeting.

Following this, a little girl called Jade is desperate enough to be sold by her family to Miss Silver's courtesan school, which will only serve to further her position of lowest socioeconomic standing. They develop a close bond when she meets JungHo, an orphan child who makes ends meet by begging on the streets of Seoul. As they become older, Jade develops into a sought-after singer with the newfound romantic potential of being of noble origin, while JungHo is caught up in the revolutionary struggle for freedom. Jade would soon have to choose whether she would sacrifice all for someone who would reciprocate the favor.

Juhea Kim’s unique characters construct their own futures as they stake their nation’s, from the scented chambers of a courtesan school in Pyongyang to the glossy cafés of a modernizing Seoul and the frigid woods of Manchuria, where wars rage. animals of a Little Land is a sophisticated and engrossing novel that delves into a world where heroes face persecution, foes transform into saviors, and animals manifest in many forms.